As we've seen occasionally in the past, ZTE is capable of producing a genuinely impressive budget phone. It looks like they're coming up to bat again, because some purported specs for an upcoming phone have leaked, and they certainly look impressive:

Android 4.0 (could be bumped up to 4.1 by release)

4.5" HD IPS Display (1280x720) with Gorilla Glass

LTE

1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU (MSM8960)

12.6MP rear shooter, 1MP front

NFC

8GB storage + microSDXC

1GB RAM

Bluetooth 4.0

.38" (9.6mm) thick

Custom ZTE UI pictured

The specs largely match today's flagships, such as the US variants of the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III - right down to using the exact same CPU. There are some differences, obviously, and that's to be expected. That doesn't make the specs any less impressive, though, especially considering this will probably be marketed as a budget device when it lands, reportedly on October 14. Then again, by then, the specs probably will be at the upper end of the budget spectrum, with quad-core LTE phones hitting around the same time.

While the leak looks pretty legitimate, we'd be remiss to remind you that it's a leak nevertheless, so take it with a grain of salt.